Abstract
BackgroundSome studies have indicated that the Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) should be considered as a species complex. Recently it split into four species or clades and seven subclades based on genetic, morphological, and biogeographic data. However, other aspects like song divergence have not been studied and several subspecies have not been evaluated, leading to important information gaps in this group of birds. In this work, we aimed to assess the differences in song traits and playback response between the Nearctic subclade and the Neotropical or Colombian subspecies E. a. peregrina.MethodsWe compared six song traits between these groups and performed field playback experiments, to test the response of the Neotropical larks to both songs. We tested the difference in the variables for separate as well as by principal component analysis (PCA).ResultsWe found significant differences (p < 0.05) in the individual song traits and the PCA analysis between the two groups. Further, the PCA analysis showed a clearer divergence of the Neotropical songs in comparison to the Nearctic songs of different locations within North America. Similarly, the playback analysis showed a significantly lower response of E. a. peregrina to the songs of the Nearctic larks.ConclusionsBesides this song divergence, there are important ecological and biogeographic differences between the Neotropical and Nearctic Horned Larks, that indicate an unclear relationship between these two groups. Thus, further morphological and genetic studies are required to clarify the taxonomy of the Neotropical Horned Lark and define if they share the same evolutionary history as the other subspecies of the Nearctic subclade.
Highlights
Some studies have indicated that the Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) should be considered as a species complex
In 2013, a taxonomic study on the Alaudidae family using molecular techniques indicated that the Horned Larks could be considered as a species complex (Alström et al 2013)
As the Nearctic songs come from different locations in North America, we show the locations in the scatterplot classified in: Central-West (CW), North-East (NE), North-West (NW), South-West (SW), and South USA-Mexico (SM)
Summary
Some studies have indicated that the Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) should be considered as a species complex. The Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) are a group of birds of wide distribution and more than 40 subspecies had been described (Drovetski et al 2014) These larks represent an interesting model of study regarding the speciation process, as there are important morphological, biogeographic, and genetic differences between. Peregrina) that is restricted to the high plateau of the Colombian Eastern Andes (Beason 1995; Cadena 2002; Valencia and Armenteras 2004), and it is endangered (EN) due to the urbanization and displacement of the native grasses (Renjifo et al 2016; ZuluagaBonilla and Macana-García 2016) This bird is among the subspecies that have not been sampled in the genetic studies of the Horned Larks. There is no approximation of its speciation process or taxonomic status
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